Guilt
by DiNUTZzo
Summary: It had been 5 years since she had left to go soul searching on some distant part of the globe, 5 years since she had given up on them. Ziva returns to discover that Tony is struggling with unimaginable guilt over an event that occurred in her absence. Will she be able to prevent the man she loves from finally falling apart all together?
1. Chapter 1

Prolouge

It had been 5 years since she had left to go soul searching on some distant part of the globe, 5 years since she had given up on _them_. He had laid his heart out on the table, practically begged her to come back home, to stay with _him_; but she said no. She gave up, and let him get on that god forsaken plane.

There isn't a day gone by where he doesn't regret that decision, he's played through the moment a million times in his head, constantly berating himself for not trying that little bit harder, for letting her slip through his fingers.

But she was always a free spirit, never shackled to one place or person, she was never his, he could never claim her to be his own, and yet, he couldn't help but feel so damn betrayed.

Anthony DiNozzo angrily ran his fingers through his long overgrown hair as he stared through the open doorway at the ghost that had decided to waltz back into his life.

"Are you going to invite me in?" She asked,

Begrudging Tony shuffled aside revealing the mess that was his apartment. Empty liquor bottles lay strewn across the carpet. Cabinets lay on their sides, their contents spilling across the floor. Broken glass was strewn everywhere, glinting menacingly in the harsh artificial light. The 50" flat screen, something which before had been DiNozzo's pride and joy was broken beyond repair, leaning haphazardly against the wall, a number of impact smashes distorting the screen, cracks spread their way across like eerie spider webs, the spacing of the impacts left little doubt that it was fists which had done the damage.

"What are you doing here Ziva?" Tony asked slowly

And it was now for the first time that Ziva studied the man in front of her. The Tony she had left 5 years ago was long gone, and she could barely recognise the man now. Tony's hair was long and greasy, and an unkempt beard marked his face. DiNozzo's shoulders were slumped and his eyes, which were set in sunken sockets stared solemnly downwards, the spark and love of life which had once filled them had long gone.

Ziva felt herself choke up, _how could she of abandoned this man?_ She reached her hand out to place it on his chest and she felt as if she had been stabbed when Tony physically retracted away from her touch.

"I… I came to help." She said slowly

"And what if I don't want it?!" Tony spat harshly, making eye contact with her for the first time and Ziva drew in breath forcefully when she saw the anger and guilt which swirled in his green orbs.

"I know what happened Tony…" Ziva started

"No!" Tony shouted, interrupting violently "You know nothing of what happened, because you weren't here! You walked away and left us, you left me! And you don't get to waltz back in here pretending like nothing has happened, as if it hasn't been 5 years since I last saw you or heard from you! So no, you don't get to play Florence Nightingale now and come to _help_ me, because it's too late Ziva. You left, and you never came back, despite how much I needed you. So you can't help me Ziva, because I'm well past the point of being saved, or even caring if I am." Tony said, breathing heavily and left looking physically exhausted from his outburst.

"I know you're angry Tony…" Ziva took a deep breath "And I know I have been selfish, I put my feelings before yours and I'm sorry I cut you out of my life. But I'm here now, for as long as you need me."

Tony chuckled humourlessly "Oh darling, I seriously doubt that." And with that he walked across the floor, not caring about his bare feet on the broken glass, as he walked over to the table, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took a good hard swig before turning back to face his ex-partner.

Ziva decided to ignore that comment, "You need to stop blaming yourself Tony, it's not your fault she's gone…"

"SARAH!" Tony all but screamed "Her name was Sarah! And it's my fault that's she's dead!"

"Not from what I've heard Tony, the only person who thinks that you did anything wrong is you Tony." Ziva said softly, once again reaching out to touch him. He didn't resist this time and Ziva felt her heart skip a beat when her hand came into contact with his chest. She watched silently as tears streamed down Tony's face.

"Why are you here Ziva?" Tony asked again

"Because you need me." Ziva said softly, gently wiping a lock of his hair away from his eyes before caressing his temple "And I know I haven't been there in the past, but I'm here now. And I promise you Tony, I am not going to leave you."

"Why?" The question seemed so painful for him, as it choked out of his torn lips that Ziva nearly broke down into tears herself.

"Because I love you." She said simply

And that seemed to break Tony, he broke down into uncontrollable sobs, no longer able to support his own weight he sank to the floor, rocking back and forth, his body physically shaking with grief.

"I don't deserve your love, he sobbed out, his voice cracking "Not after what I've done."

Ziva took his face and cradled it in her hands, moving her thumbs make and forth in a soothing pattern. She felt lost and hopeless, she had abandoned him, she had cut him off from her life without ever looking back, for the fear that she would have come running straight back. She had been fleeing from her emotions for half of decade, and as a consequence she had had no idea that Tony had been going through the toughest part of his life alone.

She had been so wrapped up in her emotions and self-pity that she had never really thought to consider things from his point of view. Tony had lost every woman he had grown to care about, and had either had them forcefully ripped away from him, in the cases of his mother, Kate and Jenny. Or they had abandoned him; much like Wendy, EJ and of course _her_. And yet he still got up and put his bruised and scarred heart back on the firing line, and that made him the strongest and bravest person that Ziva knew.

But finally life had broken him, it had put him in the way of incomprehensible adversity and left to watch him crumble under the burden. Gibbs, McGee and Abby, too wrapped up in their own issues were too busy to see through Tony's already cracked façade, and by the time the mask had all but slipped away it was too late.

Ziva held the frail and broken man in her arms, rocking back and forth and whispering soothing words in his ear, and she wasn't sure if Tony was right, and it was really too late to save him.

**This is my new story, and will be contain multiple chapters, unfortunately the updates will be very irregularly spaced as I will be going away sailing on Friday.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Dead End

**Okay guys, here is another chapter, originally I was going to separate these into one 'filler' chapter and another one that actually explains what Tony and Ziva were talking about in the previous chapter but I've decided to combine them rather than leaving you with a cliff hanger. Please Review!**

**WARNING: This chapter ends with a scenario which some may find upsetting.**

Chapter 1: Dead End

_2 MONTHS EARLIER_

Too say that the case had been difficult would have been the understatement of the century, one dead end seemed to run into another. Every light at the end of the tunnel that the team seemed to produce was quickly crushed before them.

A Lieutenant Commander's daughter had been kidnapped by a far left group of political activists who were looking for publicity for their cause, which spoke out against the government's recent plan to invest billions into an updated submarine-based weapons program. The left wing group, or '_Red Alliance'_ as they called themselves had harnessed social media to the best of their ability to fly their cause. Pictures and videos of the little girl had clocked up millions of views and shares online; all of which had caused public outrage and turned the spotlight and consequent media frenzy on NCIS and its apparent inability to gather any leads on the location of the girl.

McGee had attempted to retrace the group's online footprints but it had been almost impossible, and as much as he would never admit it; he wasn't as good as he used to be. It had been a long time since he had graduated from university and had been working for NCIS for over a decade and a half, in which time an entire new generation of technological geniuses had emerged, and as much as he tried, Tony knew that sometimes the agent struggled, but for whatever reason he would never admit it; whether it be pride, or the unwillingness to let down a team, which seemed perhaps over-reliant on his computer abilities.

Vance and Gibbs had spent the week strung as tight as a guitar string, snapping at anybody who dared to step a toe too close to the two old dogs, something which Tony had taken on his own job in an attempt to spare the younger agents from the wrath of the two alphas.

DiNozzo groaned as he rubbed his temples in a clockwise motion, trying to will the migraine which had been plaguing him all day to go away. It was on days like this that he really missed _Ziva_. It was still painful to say her name, she had walked out of his life nearly 5 years ago, never looking back, not replying to letters, texts or calls. She had left leaving him with nothing but a broken heart and her Star of David necklace, an item which still occupied the top draw of his desk.

He sensed something being set down on his desk, Tony looked up to see Ellie setting a steaming cup of coffee down and smiling softly at him, Tony smiled softly in return, attempting to convey his undying gratitude as he brought the sweet liquid up to his lips and instantly feeling better as he felt the coffee surge down the back of his throat.

"Thank you." Tony said, smiling tiredly

"You looked like you might need it, it's been 3 days and you've barely stopped to sleep or eat. You're running yourself into the ground…" Ellie said softly, somehow she managed to convey concern, without the recipient feeling as if they were being patronised or lectured.

It was one of Special Agent Bishop many talents, over the 5 years that they had been working together DiNozzo had become very close to Bishop, she was one of his closest friends. She never pushed a subject, or demanded to know everybody's past… something Tony was very thankful for. And although she might not know every detail about his and Ziva's past; she was always willing to step up and be a shoulder to cry on… even if in the early years of their relationship that had meant getting stupidly drunk on a week night.

"Sitrep." Tony demanded standing up abruptly from his desk and walking towards the plasma screen, "We're dealing with the kidnapping of 7 year old Sarah Cole, a BOLO has been sent out, and the FBI and Wilkes' team is dealing with co-ordinating sightings with local LEOs. What we know for fact is that Sarah was abducted from her front garden in Anacostia at 1500 on Friday, since then no contact has been made from the kidnappers in the form of a ransom; but we know the girl is alive due to the activity on social media." Tony said looking around as McGee joined him in front of the plasma screen.

"Lieutenant Commander Simon Cole is currently on a jump flight back from U.S.S. George H.W. Bush which is currently out in deployment around the Horn of Somalia, there were delays in his return due to communication problems and severe weather." McGee said clicking the remote bringing up the service photo of the Lieutenant "So far all leads about why Cole and his family in particular were targeted have turned out fruitless, due to the fact that the renewal of the new submarines has very little to do with him and his duties."

"Aha!" Ellie said triumphantly as she slammed the enter button victoriously on her keyboard "I have just found us a lead, and a face behind _Red Alliance_."

"Care to share Mrs Bishop?" Tony said cocking his eyebrow, it was the team's first break and although DiNozzo wasn't naïve enough to feel relief, the news certainly was well received.

"8 years ago, Susan Cole – then Susan Matthews married Simon Cole, 7 months later out pops little baby Sarah – a shotgun wedding perhaps?"

"Perhaps, or just coincidence; she may of not known that she was pregnant, or the wedding had been planned beforehand." McGee suggested

"Well after Sarah was born, a man filed for a paternity test, a man by the name of Scott Bulmer," Bishop said bringing up a driving license of the man in question, his eyes and hair were wild and tattoos would around the base of his neck disappeared under the T-Shirt.

"I guess Susan Cole had a thing for bad boys…" Tony stated.

"Very much so, Susan and Scott were apparently in an on and off relationship since high-school but after meeting Simon, Susan entered a relationship with him with the hopes of settling down. But erm, there was, erm, an 'overlap in the relationships' to put it politely."

"Susan Cole," Tony said looking at the picture of the women in question on the plasma, smiling a devilish smile "You naughty girl."

"Anyway, after Sarah was born Scott Bulmer filed for a paternity test, however, somewhere along the line the paperwork got lost. As 2 days after filing for a test Scott Bulmer was arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to 7 years." Ellie said clicking the remote and bringing up the details outlining the courts paperwork "And does anybody want to guess when Mr Bulmer was released?" Bishop said clicking again bringing up the parole details.

"2 weeks ago." Tony whispered his hazel eyes quickly scanning the document.

"So this whole _Red Alliance _thing might be completely unrelated." Tony whispered, his eyes darting back and forth scanning the information in front of him "It was merely a distraction to throw us off the case."

"Or they might be working together, perhaps Bulmer is a part of the group and he is using his personal vendetta against Cole to also aid the cause of the organisation…" Ellie suggested "It would explain for the greater amount of technology that he has had access to him, and perhaps explain why we haven't been able to track him."

"Either way we've got a suspect and a motive." McGee stated quickly returning to his desk and began furiously typing away at his keyboard "Bulmer has skipped the last 3 meetings with his parole officer and he has no current address."

"Okay Bishop, call Gibbs and let him know the recent update, McGee go down to Abby's Lab and co-ordinate with her in an attempt to retrace his steps, I want to know everywhere this guy's been."

The team scurried off to their designated tasks, Ellie had barely put the phone down before Gibbs rounded the corner, coffee cup in hand. "Where's McGee?" Gibbs gruffly asked.

"With Abby, retracing Bulmer's steps." Bishop replied.

"We've got a lead." Tony said slamming down the phone into the cradle. "That was Bulmer's mother on the phone, she says she's seen Scott 3 times this week and he's staying at hers and working at his Brother's construction company, where he is currently working on a new high rise downtown."

"Got an address?" Gibbs gruffly demanded

"Yup." Tony said already reaching for his coat and side arm.

"Grab your gear." Gibbs shouted "Bishop, get McGee and inform the FBI."

* * *

The Dodge Charger screamed around the corner, doing at least 20mph over the speed limit, the tires screeching in protest but the powerful engine pushed the car forward.

"Tony, take the back, McGee take the side and Bishop and I will take the front." Gibbs gruffly demanded, ramming the car into a higher gear "The FBI shouldn't be too far behind us."

The charger skidded to a halt and the four agents hopped out, weapons at the ready.

DiNozzo watched as Gibbs and Ellie headed towards the main entrance, SIGs drawn and safeties disengaged. McGee had sprinted down a side alley and was positioned outside a fire escape, his weapon also drawn. Tony crept his way down the side of the building, constantly alert… there was something about this situation that just didn't feel right.

Once he reached the back set of doors he signalled to Gibbs that he was in position by tapping twice clearly on the microphone.

"_Okay on my count,"_ Tony heard Gibbs' voice come through his earwig "_3…2…1…GO!"_

Tony kicked the door in, and entered the building "NCIS GET DOWN!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

* * *

They were expecting them. A hailstorm of bullets whipped around Tony, temporarily disorientating him, out of the corner of his right eye he saw McGee diving for cover so Tony followed suit and dived rather spectacularly behind a pile of boxes.

The fusillade of fire appeared to be coming from all directions, Tony felt like his nerve endings on fire, he could feel the blood pulsing around his body, the adrenaline coursing through his arteries had his every muscle tightly sprung: ready to propel him into action at a moments notice.

Firing a double tap from his SIG, Tony provided himself with enough cover to quickly assess the situation.

There were 5 shooters on this level, god knows how many more on the levels above, all heavily armed with semi-automatic rifles. Suddenly a spray of rounds came flying towards him, embedding themselves in the wooden boards with a deafening crack, sending splinters flying in all directions.

Tony saw his chance and fired in the direction of the attacker, three rounds to the chest. The man went down, never to rise again. Suddenly there was a flash of purple over by the staircase at the back of the warehouse.

"Boss!" Tony cried into his mic "It's the girl! They're taking her up to the next floor!"

"_DiNozzo! Can you reach her? Bishop and I are pinned down!_" Gibbs shouted over the microphone, the sound of the gunfire carried with it.

"McGee!" Tony barked, the younger agent looked up. Tony sprung to his feet and sprinted across the 10 metres of open concrete that lay between his and the probie's position, trying to ignore the wealth of bullets that were whizzing past around him. DiNozzo dove the last few metres, skidding to a halt next to McGee behind the relative safety of a pile of boxes and machinery equipment.

"McGee" Tony repeated, "I'm going after the girl, but I'm going to need you to provide me with some covering fire while I try to make it to those stairs"

"Wouldn't it be safer to just wait for the cavalry to arrive in the form of the FBI?!" McGee yelled over the sound of the fire fight

"For us, yes, but not for the girl, who knows what they may do to her"

Suddenly the agents' earwigs came crackling into action, "_Agent down, I repeat we have an Agent down"_ Gibbs said, a trace of fear evident in his voice.

"That's Bishop" McGee said softly the colour draining out of his face turning it a ghostly shade of white

"Okay Gibbs is going to need all the help he can get, use your own covering fire to move your way towards him, hopefully that will be enough of a distraction for me to get to the stairs in one piece!" Tony shouted "You go help Gibbs, I'm going after the girl alone….ready?"

McGee nodded determinedly. "Okay….. 3, 2, 1…. GO!"

McGee took a kneeling position and fired systematically towards the attackers, the sudden display of fire power forced them to take cover themselves. Tony saw his chance and took off running, faster than a horse at the Grand National.

He could see the distance closing between himself and the stairs and he spurred himself on, ignoring the burning in his muscles or the protests from his scarred lungs, instead he powered through. Trying to ignore the fact that McGee had stopped firing and instead of the comforting sound of a SIG, it had been replaced with the ugly and unmistakable boom of Kalashnikovs which were pointed in his direction.

Concrete exploded from the wall in front of him, as bullets which were missing him by centimetres slammed into the wall at hundreds of miles an hour. The stairs were drawing ever closer and Tony pushed himself even harder, feeling the welcome strain in his muscles as they were worked to the limit.

There was a brief respite in the AK47 fire, the gunman must have been reloading, and Tony finally reached the staircase's pillar which provided adequate cover. Tony withdrew his SIG and leant around the pillar, it took only few seconds for the gunman to reappear and Tony fired twice, the rounds slammed in the man and he dropped to the floor. _That should buy Gibbs and McGee a little more time _Tony thought to himself before ramming a new magazine into his weapon before cautiously walking up the stairs.

The stairs were old and frail and ran up the back wall supporting themselves on huge concrete pillars, the rusted metal frame in itself provided very little cover, but luckily a stack of boxes to Tony's right prevented any surprise attacks, it did however mean that he was channelled between the wall and the boxes, meaning he only had one possible path. A path he was sure the captors had their cross hairs on and Tony was sure he wouldn't make it two steps before being mowed down in a hail of bullets; Butch and Sundance style.

Pausing for a moment Tony weighed up his options, he could wait for back up, but by that point it would probably be too late, he could risk stepping around the corner and take his chances – probably something that wouldn't end up well either. Or he could make his own third option.

One thing Tony DiNozzo prided himself on was his ability to improvise, turning around he saw a support bar running a few meters across his head, it was square and had obviously been part of a pulley system for transporting crates in a time before small motorised vehicles.

Tony quickly remove his belt and tested the strength of the leather in his hands, satisfied, he threw the buckle end up in the air. The buckle slammed into the bar with an awful clang. He paused for a moment, weapon at the ready until he was sure that the gunfire from below had masked his exploits.

He tried again, this time the belt successfully looped over the bar, so that one end was hanging either side. It was at this point that Tony holstered his weapon and jumped, grabbing one end of the belt in each hand. There was a horrible creaking as Tony's weight forced the leather to be stretched out of place. Using all the strengths in his biceps Tony pulled himself up so that he was in reaching distance of the bar, carefully he manoeuvred the ends into his right hand before grabbing the bar with his left hand. Once he was sure he could support his weight with his left hand and trying to ignore the severe pain caused by the edges digging into his palm he let go of the belt and grabbed the bar with his right hand as well.

Once again testing his upper body strength Tony pulled himself upwards trying to remain as silent as possible before wrapping his leg over the bar. Tony sat on top of the bar, a leg swung over each side panting. It was from this vantage point he could see the warehouse level below him.

He upholstered his SIG and recognised 5 armed men in front of him, 3 had their weapons trained on the staircase – just like he had suspected, while the other two men were trying to manhandle the girl up the next set of stairs.

With no time to lose Tony aimed at one of the men guarding the stairway and fired twice, both rounds smashing into the man's skull. He went down with nothing more than a small yelp. The perp next to him turned to the face the man his eyes wide with shock and confusion, it wasn't long before he also hit the floor with a hole in his skull to match his friends.

The third man looked up in horror as he spotted Tony above, Tony fired twice again, this time a double tap to the chest, no chances. No mercy.

The two men carrying the girl had, by now, disappeared up the staircase, but now Tony knew that he had the element of the surprise, the remaining men wouldn't be expecting anybody to make it through the ambush that they had set up at the top of the stairs.

Lowering himself gently onto the floor Tony stepped over the bodies of the men that he had killed only moments before and groaned "I'm totally getting done for excessive force" he muttered.

Wiping the blood from the open wounds in his hands on his already ruined suit trousers Tony reloaded his SIG again, it was his last magazine "Well I guess I'm going to have to be a little less trigger happy" Tony said grinning to himself before pulling back the slide and arming the weapon.

Cautiously he slowly began to creep up the stairs, his eyes never leaving the sight of his weapon. Once Tony had positioned himself at the heavy steel door at the top of the stairs he realised that the light coming under the door must have been sunlight; and this door lead out to the warehouse's roof.

Carefully placing one hand on the handle of the door Tony depressed it, allowing the door to swing open on its own weight. There was a lull for a second or two before gunfire spat in Tony's direction, bullets were clanging into the heavy door, causing sparks and resulting in them flying everywhere so Tony drew further back comforted in the protection of the thick concrete wall to his side.

Tony stepped out seeing that the first gunman was on a ledge, half of his body hidden behind an air conditioning vent, he watched as the man seemed to fumble with his banana clip; unable to reload his AK47.

With no hesitation Tony raised his weapon and delivered a double tap to the man's chest. Suddenly rounds slammed into the ground only a metre away from his feet, with little time to react Tony rolled forward, landing behind a another vent before twisting his body and aiming in the direction that the bullets had come from. Seeing the gunman Tony quickly fired off 3 shots: all finding their target.

Tony quickly assessed the area, and saw two men disappear over the ledge, quickly following suit Tony flanked left, trying to keep low as he worked his way up ridge. Once he found himself at the top he found himself looking down on a lower part of the roof.

Tony quickly spied Sarah in the centre, clad in her distinctive purple jacket, stood next to her was a man who Tony recognised as Scott Bulmer; although the man before him now was very different from the photo which had been projected on the plasma what felt like a lifetime away. This man was thinner and with shaggy, greasy hair. And his eyes seemed to dart back and forth, almost predatory like he was a caged animal. Next to Bulmer, on either side, stood two of his henchmen - all armed with machine guns.

Tony was still weighing up his options before he was spotted. "Over there on the ledge!" One of the men cried before firing the AK widely in Tony's direction. Thinking fast Tony unloaded two into the henchman's chest and another 2 in the man next to him before he had even had a chance to raise his weapon.  
Unfortunately by now the other two men had spotted Tony, and bullets were now zipping past all around him. Tony saw a barrel about 4 metres to the left of the men, he aimed before delivering one well-placed round.

Suddenly there was a blinding light before an almighty roar as the barrel exploded, the fireball shooting outwards; greedily sucking in oxygen as it mushroomed into the sky, black smoke billowing outwards, engulfing and choking all that surrounded it.  
The two men which had been stood by were knocked off their feet by the force of the explosion, they were only just beginning to get up and raise their weapons before Tony delivered a swift round to the chest of both men in quick succession; making sure that they would not be getting up again.

Keeping his weapon raised he slowly walked towards Sarah - staring down Scott Bulmer "Hands up! You're under arrest!" Tony shouted, never lowering his weapon.

"No, I think you should have your hands up instead..." Bulmer said with a sick smirk before he withdrew a revolver from his jacket pocket and held it forcefully against Sarah's head, roughly pressing the barrel into her head. "So now I'll ask again pig: lower YOUR weapon"

"Sarah." Tony said slowly, looking the terrified girl in the eyes "It's okay, I'm going to get you home to your Mum and Dad"

Tony looked up, making sure that his remark had struck a chord as he intended "I AM HER FATHER!" Bulmer screamed, and Sarah began to cry, tears streaming down her already tear stained face. But Scott did remove the barrel away from her head, instead waving it wildly in Tony's direction.

"Paternity test says different!" Tony responded "Now let her go!"

"You're lying!" Bulmer said cackling hysterically "Now you're going to let me leave with her or you're going to end up with a bullet in your skull!"

"I'm not letting you leave with her" Tony called confidently, remaining his weapon to make sure that Scott was straight down the sights

"Well there's not much that you can do about it!" Bulmer called back "You've fired 12 shots on this roof without reloading and 12 is the maximum capacity of a SIG Saucer magazine - so the way I see it: you've got no way to stop me."

_ Hmm_ Tony thought _not such a dumb-ass apparently._

"Goodbye Special Agent!" Bulmer called out before his finger began to tighten around the trigger.  
Tony reacted first, he squeezed his trigger and a bullet sprang from his weapon at 700mph curving through the air before it slammed into Bulmer's chest splintering its way through bone, muscle and all sorts of connective tissue that lay in front of it before the round severed its way through the inferior vena cava and came to a shuddering halt in a posterior rib.

"You're wrong." Tony called out "13 rounds; I always keep one in the chamber"

The shock which plastered Bulmer's face slowly ebbed into confusion as he staggered backwards his hands grasping at his shirt, which the blood was already beginning to soak through.  
The colour slowly began to drain from his face leaving his face an unhealthy grey pallor, he dropped the revolver and staggered back even further.

Tony took a cautious step towards Bulmer, trying to put himself between Sarah and Scott. Bulmer was dangerously close to the edge now and his entire body seemed to be swaying from side to side as if it were on a tall ship.

"Bulmer, I need you to walk towards me with your hands in the air" Tony said slowly in a measured voice

But Bulmer didn't listen and he continued to sway backwards and forwards, he stumbled back even further until his feet were at the prepuce of the ledge, and then his foot slipped over the ledge and he fell backwards, almost in slow motion.

His hands were desperately grabbing at the air and his eyes were wide with fear and horror, he grasped out, trying to reach something that would stop him, his hands feverishly clawing at the air in front of him.

Until suddenly his left hand snagged on the fabric of Sarah's jacket, once he made contact Bulmer hung on in a desperate attempt of self-preservation. But Sarah's little frame was not enough to hold Bulmer and with a little yelp she was pulled off her feet and over the ledge following her possible biological father tumbling downwards.

* * *

"NOOO!" Tony yelled at the top of his voice and he threw himself forwards into a dive, his hands reaching out for the little girl.

Tony felt the weight in his stomach grow as he was propelled over the edge, trying to make himself as streamlined as possible he dove after Sarah, he felt his right hand grab onto the fabric of Sarah's jacket and so with his left hand Tony tried to grab onto desperately whatever was flying past him.

His hand and wrist smashed against the concrete and wood, the friction burnt the skin off his hand, suddenly his fingers came into contact with the edge of the ledge, the sudden deceleration brought Tony to a shuddering halt; the pressure exerted on his joint felt like it was ripping his arm away from his body and Tony cried out in pain. The muscle fibres felt like they were being torn apart and there was a white hot iron being driven into them. It was all Tony could do to desperately hang onto the ledge.

He heard a soft whimper below him and he saw Sarah swinging below him.

It was only then that Tony realised that it wasn't the jacket that he had hold of, but rather the jacket's detachable hood.

_POP_

Tony looked down in horror as one of the poppers holding the hood to the coat snapped open. Sarah fell a little, but the remained in Tony's grasp.

"Sarah darling," Tony said, trying to prevent the panic from creeping into his voice "Can you reach up and grab my hand?"

Sarah was now openly weeping now, tears furiously running her already tear stained face and her entire body was wracked with sobs.

"Sarah, my name's Tony. And everything is going to be okay - I just need you to reach up and grab my hand, is that okay honey?" Tony said, feeling the desperation being to set in. Sarah began to reach up.

_POP_

Another popper snapped open and Sarah dropped even further, putting Sarah out of reach of Tony's hand. As she dropped she cried out, the sound of the little girls scream chilled Tony to the bone.

Only 2 poppers remained, and Tony could feel the strain that they were under. Sarah looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes. Pleading him to be the hero he had promised he was and to save her. Tears were running down Tony's face now too.

There had to be some way out of this, there just had to be. Tony tried to reposition his body so Sarah could grab that instead, and ignoring the protest from his body he swung himself around to give Sarah a better angle.

"Sarah sweetheart, see if you can grab hold of my leg."

Her small little hands reached out, tiny pudgy fingers desperately trying to grasp the expensive, Italian material.

_POP_

The penultimate popper went, Tony knew that the final one would be under so much tension that it would only last a few seconds.

Sarah was sniffling now, swinging back and forth, suspended above the concrete sidewalk. "Sarah grab my leg!" Tony shouted.

She swung her body forwards, arms outstretched as far as they would go, when her fingers came into contact with the fabric she clung on with all her might.

_POP _

The final popper flew open, Sarah dropped about a foot, slipping against the side of Tony's leg, but she managed to remain clinging to the suit fabric. But she was slipping. She couldn't hold on for much longer.

"Sarah!" Tony shouted, desperately trying to reach for her with his free hand "YOU NEED TO HANG ON!"

Sarah looked up at Tony with her big brown eyes, tears tracks marked her face which was ghostly pale.

"Please Mr Tony, help, help me…."

Sarah then lost her grip, suddenly her fingers were no longer clutching the suit fabric and she was falling through the air, letting out a blood curdling scream.

"NOOOOOO!" Tony cried out, tears clouding his vision.

The warehouse door burst open, revealing Gibbs and McGee, but they were too late.

Tony remained swinging back and forth, holding the ledge with one hand…. And a purple jacket hood with the other.

**Review?**


End file.
